UPWC Trip Report: Easy Pass to Thunder Creek

This is my Trip Report for the 2015 UltraPedestrian Wilderness Challenge Route #3, which I completed on July 20. The transportation logistics for this adventure eclipsed my usual concerns with technology challenges.

 

THE TAPER
 COLONIAL CREEK TO EASY PASS TRAILHEAD (STATE ROUTE 20 MP130+ TO MP151+)

I rolled out of my sleeping bag at 0415, boiled water for oatmeal and hot tea, and finished packing my gear and provisions for the 2015 UltraPedestrian Wilderness Challenge Route #3. The route spans about 24 miles from Easy Pass Trailhead to Thunder Creek Trailhead. I was not confident that I could complete an out-and-back route in the time available, so I decided to park my car at the campground next to Thunder Creek Trailhead, bicycle 21 miles up Highway 20 to the Easy Pass Trailhead, and drive my car back to the bicycle after the trail run. 

This solo plan would not have been successful for me if any major water crossings turned out to be impassable, or if I had simply gotten lost in the brush.

I’ve ridden a bicycle one other time during the last 11 years, so I’m a little apprehensive about the cycling. I make a second Mason jar of tea, admire the rapidly lightening sky, and wonder if it will be possible to reach the trailhead in 2 or 3 hours. It is almost unthinkable that it would take me longer than that; after all, I should be able to jog 21 miles in 3 hours, right? Only one way to find out!

I head out of the Colonial Creek Campground at 0535, and cross this narrow bridge across Thunder Arm, where the road shoulder is about 6 inches wide. As if on cue, two fully loaded logging trucks cross the bridge, heading the other way. 

The sun is just hitting the peaks behind me, and my legs already feel tired. 

Maybe I should try standing instead of sitting.

 This warning sign is maybe 100 meters around the bend from the bridge across Thunder Arm, about 200 meters from the Colonial Creek Campground. 

Standing on the bicycle already doesn’t feel any better than sitting, and my quads and hamstrings already feel completely inadequate. I'm not anywhere close milepost 131 yet, either. 

About halfway around the bend from the ROCKS warning sign, as I ponder the potential energy of boulders waiting to crush me over the next 17 miles, my Suunto objectively informs me that I am moving between 4 and 5 miles per hour. At that rate, my ascent will take 4 to 5 hours.

Fortunately, the bridge across Thunder Arm was the only section of narrow shoulder I encountered all morning, and rockfall onto the shoulder was easy enough to dodge, and most traffic was heading the other way. I slowly cycled past a pika sunning itself on the shoulder of the highway near M.P. 135. The grade varied along the way, providing some relief as the highway descended imperceptibly from Elevation 2,100 feet at Ross Dam to 1,900 feet through Canyon Creek Trailhead, before the final climb to 3,700 feet to Granite Creek and the Easy Pass Trailhead.

That downhill section southeast of Ross Dam enabled me to coast briefly, recover a little, and arrive at the trailhead in just under 3 hours. My Suunto reported 3,054 feet of climbing and 554 feet of descent over 21.36 miles.


FOR THE RECORD

EASY PASS TRAILHEAD TO THUNDER CREEK TRAILHEAD

I arrived at the trail head around 0830, hungry and thirsty, with uncontrollable sewing-machine legs and no feeling in the the soles of my feet. I spent a half hour resting at the trailhead, eating a slab of zucchini bread, and one hard-boiled egg, and drinking a whole liter of water. 

I imagined that I would take photographs at the trailhead for this blog, but I was already a little disoriented. I am simply grateful that I had the presence of mind to activate the Suunto to record my route on foot. 

ASCENT TO EASY PASS (MILE 0.0 TO 3.9)

I headed up the trail, confident that my shaking legs would recover on the ascent and that feeling would return to the soles of my feet (about 35 minutes). This is about where I remembered to start taking photographs:

The little Thimbleberry plant looks cute and innocent at Easy Creek, doesn’t it?

I found the ascent to Easy Pass to be straightforward, snow-free in July, and easy to follow, in contrast with Ira Spring’s and Harvey Manning’s description of Easy Pass in their 1985 guide to the North Cascades. I can hear the nature-documentary voice in my head when I read this passage:

“The trail may now become elusive, buried in snow or greenery. (Make very sure not to lose the path; cross-country exploration here is agonizing.) The way goes over the avalanche fan and Easy Creek and begins a long ascent along the south side of the valley to the pass. Flower gardens. Small groves of trees. Watercourses. Boulder fields. Up, always up.”

 

I concluded that the trail has been well maintained and loved since that 1985 review. 

And I imagine that this would be a beautiful trail to ascend at night, in starlight or moonlight, arriving at Easy Pass in time to watch the sun rise. 

 

I arrived at the Easy Pass saddle closer to 11 in the morning. 

The marmot had left his rocky burrow next to the trail and was already hiding in a clump of trees at the saddle, whistling at hikers. 

I did not see him, but he whistled suddenly and shook a tree branch at me.

DESCENT INTO FISHER BASIN (MILE 3.9 to 5.7)  

The trail to Fisher Basin is steep and narrow with acute-angle switchbacks. The trail was narrow enough and vegetation thick enough to convince me into planting my downhill foot in thin air, forcing my hands to the ground. At one spot, the switchback angle was so acute that, apparently, many hikers attempt to hike straight through a bushy fir tree. The worn surface of the accidental trail - straight into that little fir tree - seems more convincing than the switchback. After I did the same thing, I turned around and – with my head sticking through the fir branches - I could see the real switchback dropping off in the opposite direction.

In the valley below, vegetation became thicker, but the trail generally continued straight through dry creek beds. 

 Numerous trails branch off through a meadow near a signpost pointing the way to Fisher Camp. After briefly chasing around the meadows, I decided that following the sign pointing the way to Fisher Camp was the most efficient path west toward Thunder Basin.

FISHER CAMP TO COSHO CAMP (MILE 5.7 to 9.6)

The trail was intermittently overgrown and there was lots of downed timber between Fisher Camp and Cosho Camp. I often found myself in over my head in Thimbleberry and Salmonberry thickets, with Devils Club looming, but I could still feel the trail surface with my feet.



The downed logs were manageable. The safety glasses came in handy in the thickets, and I never felt motivated to take those off. 



 

Is that a Thimbleberry leaf stuck in your gaiter ?!? 

I saw lots of omnivore scat (fir cones and berries mixed with clumps of gray furry matter) deposited in the exact center of the trail, with stunning regularity, at least every tenth of a mile. Compared with the black bear that hangs out in my backyard, this animal would either be the smallest bear I’ve ever encountered, or an extremely undernourished one. I’m not familiar with wolverines at all, so I don’t know if they would be this territorial about a trail.

The fire grate at Cosho Camp reveals some history of the Civilian Conservation Corps’ work in the Fisher Basin. West of Cosho Camp I encountered several water crossings, turnpikes, and checksteps that believably could date back to the 1930s.

I elected not to ford this ice-cold log jam option across Fisher Creek:

 

COSHO CAMP TO THUNDER CREEK JUNCTION (MILE 9.6 TO 15.0)

You can tell from my earlier photos that I was already impressed with the water crossings before I encountered a professional trail maintenance crew about 2 miles below Cosho Camp. This crew of four was working their way up the valley toward Fisher Camp, doing strategic brushing and repairing bridges and log crossings. The crew asked about trail conditions between Cosho and Fisher; apparently, no one from NPS had been up valley this season. The crew chain-sawed a small tree for me that was blocking the log crossing – I don’t mind saying I felt like a Wilderness Princess just then - and I continued west admiring their efforts.

Log crossing under construction

Brand new double-span over Logan Creek

Logan Creek

 

The trail became increasingly runnable the further west I traveled:

 

On the other hand, this is why I call it strategic brushing:
 

Don't worry, there's still plenty of lush Thimbleberry left for future navigation adventures. And I flushed a grouse out of the brush, but I wasn’t quick enough to take a picture.

The trail descends more convincingly between Rock Cabin Avalanche and Thunder Creek Junction. The soil and vegetation of this portion of the trail were much drier than anywhere else I had seen all day. I passed through this area between 4 and 5 PM and it felt like a blast furnace until I got closer to Thunder Creek. I wondered how warm Easy Pass would be in the late afternoon sun, and the exposed rock avalanche east of Easy Pass.

 
THUNDER CREEK JUNCTION TO THUNDER CREEK TRAILHEAD (MILE 15.0 to 24.5)

As the cycling faded into distant memory, I become more preoccupied with the technology. Between Rock Cabin Avalanche and Colonial Creek Campground, I noticed that the mileage on my Suunto (15.0 to 25.94 miles) began to vary from the cumulative distances reported on the Green Trails Maps (24.5 miles). I did backtrack a couple times when I noticed that I dropped my cell phone (twice!), but that discrepancy shouldn’t account for more than one- or two-tenths of one mile. From the GPS record, it looks like I may have lost the signal near McAllister Creek.

Although the trail was quite runnable through Thunder Creek Basin, it was rolling and hummocky with repeated climbs, up and down. My legs on the other hand, were totally depleted about 40 miles ago, so my pace quickened to 15 to 20 minute-miles, from the 20 to 25 minute-miles I logged while I was scrambling over downed logs and route-finding through the thickets. Junction Camp, Tricouni Camp, McAllister Camp, Thunder Camp…I only saw two dayhikers in Thunder Creek Basin. I suspect the trail crew was based out of McAllister:

If you know your sun angles, you can tell I took this photograph at Thunder Creek CG the evening before.

 

THE RECKONING

I ate my last Shotblock about 20 minutes before I reached the Thunder Creek Trailhead, at the south end of Colonial Creek Campground. I finished around 6:30 PM with a route time of 9:27’47 and recorded distance of 25.94 miles, not including the cycling. It was still warm enough to go for a swim in Thunder Arm and make it an informal wilderness triathlon. The water was wonderfully ice-cold.

Stock photo from Mt Hood 50M but, you get the picture.

WILDLIFE

Usual luck with the wildlife: marmot den, marmot whistle, deer prints, bear scat? Other than the grouse, the only wildlife I spied was on the road (one pika, one three-point buck).

 

I couldn’t even tempt mice into 

nesting in those old running shoes!

TRANSPORT AND GEAR

• One station wagon, plus six gallons of gasoline
• One old 12-speed Raleigh bicycle, and a retired pair of Brooks Adrenalines
• One pair of battered HOKA Stinson ATRs, and a pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters (Non-Potable)
• One old Camelbak MULE, 2L capacity
• One 800 mL water container, for treating water with iodine tablets
• A nuisance-level first aid kit
• Two Green Trails Maps: Diablo Dam, WA No. 48 and Mt. Logan, WA No. 49
• …but no compass for this route
• Suunto Ambit3 GPS watch
• An iPod 5 cell phone instead of a camera
• One MyCharge 8.1Wh portable charger (Adequate for the Easy Pass route, but I will need a much more powerful charger for Graves Creek/Enchanted Valley)

FOOD AND WATER 

• A huge slab of zucchini bread and one liter of well-water for the bicycle trail
• One peanut butter and honey sandwich on Power Seed bread
• Four packs of ShotBlocks
• Four Halloween-size PayDay candy bars
• One Epic bar (bison-bacon)
• Two hard-boiled eggs (I don’t care what anyone says, eggs are a cost-effective source of protein and fat!!!)
• Four liters of water: two tap/two treated with iodine, plus one 12-ounce, hand-held Amphipod containing well-water from the campground

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

• I tried to export my MovesCount files for the cycling and hiking, but they remain inaccessible to outside viewers. I specify "Public" and end up with a link to the Login page. I need to investigate and solve that issue.
• The Suunto appears to have over-reported distance (25.94 miles) and elevation gain (7,700 feet). The discrepancy was apparent by the time I reached McAllister Camp. I noticed the discrepancy fairly quickly by continuously vetting landmarks, GPS mileage, and the cumulative mileage on the Green Trails Map. The MovesCount record looks like a giant scribble through that same area.
• I DROPPED my cell phone! TWICE!!! And noticed and found twice.
• My wrist pressed buttons on the Suunto while I was scrambling over downed trees; fortunately, just the “Lap” and “Next” buttons and not the “Start/Stop” button.
• The portable charger worked fine for this distance, even though the charging cord wrapped around my forearm like a kudzu vine.
• I still packed the Timex Ironman watch because I don’t trust the fancy equipment (or myself, too true). But I was too tired at the start to properly photo-document my progress.
• I need to read up on the navigation and phone-syncing functions on my GPS watch. I'm pretty sure that watch has some truly maddening features to exploit.
• How did I insert a screen shot in my last Trip Report? Mozilla won't allow me to do this. Maybe experiment with a different web platform next time.